This week we're going to feature some more of what we call "Good Old Fashioned Forgotten Hits" ... spotlighting a few tracks that you probably haven't heard on the radio in AGES!!!
We'll kick things off with a personal favorite of mine that garnered a HUGE, favorable response the last time we featured it several years ago.
"Fresh As A Daisy" became a #38 Cash Box Hit for Emitt Rhodes back in 1971.
Dismissed by many as a Paul McCartney-wannabe, I'll admit to ranking his self-titled solo album amongst my all-time favorite LPs.
Just as McCartney had done on his first solo album, Rhodes played all of the instruments and handled all of the vocals himself ... and there is no question that he was heavily influenced by McCartney and The Beatles. (Being born and raised in Hawthorne, California, you'd also have to include Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys amongst his musical and inspirational idols ... in fact, while still part of the group The Merry-Go-Round, who scored two minor national hits in 1967 with "Live" and "You're A Very Lovely Woman", the band performed a VERY impressive cover version of "California Girls" with their A&M label boss, Herb Alpert on trumpet. You can listen to the audio of that venture here:
Click here: YouTube - Herb Alpert-California Girls ...
unfortunately, the VERY cool ... and extremely colorful video that originally accompanied this tune ... from a live appearance on The Hollywood Palace, I believe ... has apparently been deleted from YouTube!!!)
For MY money, "Fresh As A Daisy" was absolutely a "Can't Miss" hit ... but somehow it still did. Although it managed a #38 showing in Cash Box, it failed to make Billboard's Top 50 ... and it never charted here in Chicago either, despite ALL kinds of commercial airplay for the LP from which it came.
Give a listen and see if this one rings any bells ... and see if you, too, agree, that this absolutely SHOULDA BEEN A HIT!!!
